Closure applying machine



Jan. 25, 1938. w AN 2,106,365

CLOSURE APPLYING MACHINE Filed July 18, 1956 6 Sheets-Sheet l 0R g z/r. Jw

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ATTORNEY l lllllll I l 5m. 25, 1938. D. w. TIANO CLOSURE APPLYING MACHINE Filed July 18. 1936 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR I 0. awa @Amwx- NhN ATTORNEY Jan. 25, 1938. D. w. TlANO CLOSURE APPLYING MACHINE Filed July 18, 1936 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR M Guam ATTORNEY Jan. 25, 1938. w TIANO 2,106,365

CLOSURE APPLYING MACHINE Filed July 18. 1936 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 2 :7 j NTOR T151444; M We ATTORNEY Jan. 25, 1938. D. w. TlANo 2,106,365

CLOSURE APP LYING MACHINE Filed July 18. 1936 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR Ill: 31am ATTORNEY Jan. 25, 1938. D. w. TIANO CLOSURE APPLYING MACHINE Filed July 18, 1936 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 INVENTQR $W M4 ATTORNEY Patented Jan; 25,1938

CLOSURE APPLYING MACHINE Dominic W. Tiano, Boston, Mass, assignmto Pneumatic Scale-Corporation, Limited, Quincy,

Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Application July 18, 1936, Serial No. 91,395

9 Claims.

This invention relates to a closure applying machine.

The invention has for .an object to provide a novel and improved construction of closure applying machine which is adapted to apply closures to containers in a manner such that the closures may be incompletely applied to the containers so that in such condition the containers may be readily evacuated, or partially so,.

without the complete removal of the closure.

A further and-more specific object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved machine for applying screw closures to containers, and in which the containers are delivered from the machine with the closures partially screwed thereon so that in their unsealed condition the containers may be subjected to evacuation or to the introduction of gas therein through the space between the threads on the closure and container.

With these objects in view, and such others as may appear, the invention consists in the closure applying machine and in the various structures, arrangements, and combinations of parts hereinafter described and particularly defined in the claims at the end of this specification.

In the drawings illustrating the preferred embodiment of the invention, Fig. l is a vertical sectional view of the container supporting and closure applying mechanism; Fig. 2 is a sectional plan view of the driving section of the machine; Fig. 3 is a plan view of the closure applying mechanism shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a sectional plan view on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1, illustrating the chuck reversing mechanism; Fig. 5 is a vertical section of one of the closure applying mechanisms; Figs. 6 and '7 are sectional views on the lines 6-.6 and 11, respectively, of Fig. 5; Fig. 8 is a detail partly in section of a portion of the closure applying chuck shown in Fig. 5; Fig. 9 is an inverted plan view of the closure holding member as seen from the line 9--9 of Fig. 5; Fig. 10 is a development of the cam for lowering and elevating the closure applying unit, and Figs. 11 and 12 are sectional side elevation and sectional plan views respectively of a modification to be referred to.

In general, in its preferred form, the present invention contemplates a machine for applying screw closures'to containers such as bottles or jars, and in which provision is made for reversing the rotation of the closure applying unit to the end that the closure is unscrewed a predetermined amount so that the closure will rest loosely on the threads of the container leaving an air space between the closure and the container, and in this condition the container may be conveyed from the machine to be subjected to a vacuum process with the closure in its incompletely applied condition. The present invention finds particular use in the packing of coffee or other materials in jars in which it is the practice to evacuate or partially evacuate the filled container before finally sealing the same. In the improved closure applying machineit is preferred to first completely screw the closure upon the container and to then rotate the closure in the reverse direction through a predetermined amount to partially unscrew the same and thereby obtain a uniform positioning of the closure on the container.

Referring now to the drawings, and particularly to Figs. 1, 2 and 4, the illustrated .machine is provided with a base 2 having mounted thereon a closure feeding mechanism generally indicated at Ill and a revoluble head 12 upon which are mounted to revolve therewith a plurality of and, as herein shown, four individual closure applying devices I4. Each closure applying device is arranged to be individually rotated during the revolution of the head to screw a closure Hi0 upon the threaded neck of a container held by clamping members I6, I! of a revoluble container supporting table la. The table I8 is arranged to revolve with the closure applying devices, and provision'is made for engaging and releasing the containers at different stations in the revolution of the container supporting table.

The revolution of the revoluble head l2 and also the container supporting table 18, is effected by a driving motor 24 arranged to drive a shaft through pulleys 25, 26 and belt 28 as shown in Fig. 2. The driving shaft 30 is journalled in bearings 32 in a casing 34 secured to and supported by the base of the machine, and is provided with a worm 36 which cooperates with a worm wheel 38 formed on the lower portion of a cylindrical drum 40, see Fig. 1. A sleeve 42 is attached at its lower end to the inside of the cylindrical drum by the bolts 43, and at its upper end to the circular container supporting table I8 by a key 44. The clamping jaws l6, l1 above referred to for clamping the containers are mounted upon the revoluble table to rotate therewith.

Provision is made for effecting the revolution of the closure applying devices [4 about a central supporting shaft through connections between the closure applying devices and the sleeve 42, including, as shown in Fig 1 an inner sleeve 48 having an elongated keyway 41 within which an elongated key 48 secured to the outer sleeve is slidably fitted whereby to eii'ect rotation of the inner sleeve while permitting the vertical adjustment of the sleeve for the purpose of adjusting the vertical position of the closure applying devices to accommodate the machine to diiferent heights of containers.

The closure applying devices are mounted upon the top of the inner sleeve 45 by a supporting bracket 52 held by a key 58 to the upper end of the sleeve. Thebracket 52 has attached to it a plate 54 which forms a supporting member for the individual capping head casings 88 and to which they are fastened at their-lower ends by screws 58. The individual capping head casings 88 are secured at their upper ends to the revoluble head I2 by screws 53 so that the notations of the inner sleeve 48 are transmitted directly to the capping head casings and head I2 to cause the casings 88 to revolve about the stationary shaft 58, as will be apparent from an inspection of Fig. 1.

Each closure applying chuck indicated generally at 88 is mounted to slide: vertically within the capping head casing 88 and a vertical motion is imparted to the individual chucks from a cam path 88 in a cylindrical drum 18, the upper end of which is secured to a flange 12 of a sleeve 14 keyed to the stationary shaft 58, as illustrated in Fig. 1. Each capping chuck is provided with a cam roller 18 which rides in the cam path 58, and, as illustrated in Fig. 5, each cam roller I8 is rotatably mounted on a stud 88 secured in an annular split collar 82. The halves of the split collar 82 are held together by means of screws 84 in an annular groove 88 cut in a chuck housing 88. An anti-friction bearing 88 on the stud-88 guides the latter in a vertical slot 82. Referring now to Fig. 1, the cap feeding mechanism I8 in the illustrated machine may comprise any suitable or known form of cap feeding mechanism, and as herein shown includes a hopper I8I for storing a bulk supply of the caps I88 and from which successive caps are selected and delivered right side up through a feed chute I85, and the operating mechanism for selecting and delivering successive caps into the feed chute I85 may comprise that illustrated in the U. S. patent to R. N. Doble No. 1,801,721, to which reference may be made for a complete description thereof.

During the application of the caps, the containers are supported on the table I8 and are firmly gripped and held from rotation by the clamping members I8 and IT. The clamping members are arranged to engage and release the containers at the different stations in the revolution of the table I8 and as herein shown each set of clamping members comprises the stationary jaw I8 and the movable jaw IT. The stationary jaw is secured directly to the table and the movable jaw is fastened to a vertical stud I38 which is pivotally mounted in the table I8. The movable jaw is arranged to be moved by an inner cam surface I32 through a roller I34 on a lever I38 pivoted on a pin I38 secured to the under side of the table I8. A second arm I48 of the lever I38 is connected to a lever I42 secured to the lower end of the vertical stud I38 bya connecting rod I44. The roller I34 is held against the cam I32 by a spring I48 whichis connected at its other end to a stud extending from the underside of the table. In operation, as the table I8 revolves, the cam roller I34 acting on the cam I32 causes the movable gripping jaw I! to close and yieldingly hold the container in position to permit the closure applying operation to be performed during one portion of the revolution of the table and to release the containers so that they may be discharged during another portion of the revolution of the table.

Provision is. made in the illustrated machine I for transferring the caps I88 from the cap feeding mechanism I8 to the capgapplylng devices 58 while the latter are revolving, and as herein 88 to be engaged by the latter during the revolution of the closure applying devices. As herein shown, each transferring arm is secured to a vertical shaft I52 and each shaft is arranged to be oscillated by a cam I54 through cooperating cam rollers I58 carried by a cam lever I58 secured to the shafts I52. Springs I88 hold the rolls against the cam. As hereih shown, each transferring arm' is provided with a hub I82 and during the operations of the machine the hub I52 is caused to pass under the endmost cap in the manner illustrated in Fig. 1 to deposit the cap I88 upon the hub I82.

Referring now to Figs. 1 and 4, during the revolution of the cap applying chuck 88 about the shaft 58, each cap applying chuck is caused to rotate about its own axisin order to completely screw the caps or closures upon the containers, and thereafter, as herein shown, the direction of rotation of the cap applying chuck is reversed to partially unscrew the cap a predetermined amount. As herein illustrated, each cap applying chuck is provided with a pinion 84 keyed to the top of the chuck housing 88 and each pinion 84 meshes with a stationary gear segment 88 secured to the sleeve I4, during that part of the revolution of the machine in which the cap is being applied. Also in mesh with each pinion 84 are idler gears 88 which are loosely mounted on studs I82 secured to the revoluble head I2. After the chucks 88 have been revolved in one direction a predetermined amount, the pinion 84 leaves the gear segment 98 and rotation of the chuck is momentarily interrupted until the idler gear 88 comes in contact with a smaller gear segment I84, which, through the idler 88, reverses the rotation of the cap applying chuck 88, as shown in Fig. 4. The gear segment I84 is secured to a flanged hub I88 which is keyed to the sleeve I4. In order to relieve the shock of the gears coming into engagement, the segments are yieldingly mounted and, as herein shown, the segment I84 is pivotally mounted on a stud I88. The outer end of the segment is provided with a bolt II 8 which slides freely through a slot in a lug I I2 extending from the flanged hub I 88. A coiled spring II4 encircles the bolt between the segment I84 and the lug II2. A washer H5 and nut II8 provided on the bolt on the further side of the lug hold the segment I84 in normal engaging position with the idler gears 88. Similarly, the gear segment 88 is provided with a separate section I I8 pivoted on a stud I28 secured Provision is made for effectingin the segment 96. The outer end of the section H8 is provided with a bolt I22 which extends through a slot in a lug I24 formed integral with the segment 96. A coiled spring I26 encircles the bolt between the section H8 and the lug I24 and yieldingly urges the segment outwardly while the latter is held in normal, engaging position by a nut I25 and washer I21 on the bolt on the further side of the lug. By reference to Figs. 1 and 10 it will be seen that the gear segments 96, I04 are positioned at diflerent levels and that theidler gears 98 rotate with the pinions 94 without producing any effect until the idlers come in contact with the segment I04 whereupon the rotation of the pinion 94 is reversed. The pinion 94 is made of s cient length to permit the segment I04 and idlers 98 to remain in mesh with the pinion 94 in t 'e various vertical positions into which the pinio and chuck housing are moved during the ope ation of the machine.

Referring now to Figs. 5, '1, 8 and 9, each closure applying device comprises a housing 88 slidably and rotatably mounted in the casing 60. The housing 88 is provided at its lower end with the cap gripping mechanism 66 which is arranged to receive the cap. The gripping mechanism 66 comprises serrated jaws I 10 radially mounted in a disc I12 secured to the lower end of a spindle I18. The jaws are urged outwardly or into open position by springs I14 and, as herein shown, are closed by clutch fingers I16 which are pivotally mounted in the spindle I18. The second arms I80 of the clutch fingers bear against a conical surface I82 of a rod I84 which is arranged to be raised and lowered during the operation of the machine, to open and close the jaws I10. As herein illustrated the rod I84 is yieldably mounted within the spindle I18, a spring I86 normally urging the rod upwardly against a compressing member I88 which in turn is held in its adjusted position with relation to the spindle I18 by a cap I90 which is attached to the upper section of the spindle. The compressing member I88 bears against a rod I92 which is provided at its upper end with a roller I94 cooperating with a stationary cam I96. The rod I92 is guided vertically in a turret I98 formed in the revoluble head I 2. The cam I96 is secured to a flange 200 which is keyed to the stationary shaft 50. As the capping heads revolve about the shaft 50, the cam I96 operates to press down the member I88, compressing the spring I86 and thus lowering the conical surface I82 permitting the jaws I10 to open.

The spindle I18 is rotated with the housing 88 through connections which permit slippage when the cap has been screwed down to the limit of the threads andprovision is made to positively engage the driving connections when the rotation of the housing 88 is reversed to unscrew the cap. As herein shown, a flanged sleeve 202, screwed onto the spindle, I18 is provided with pins 204 which engage in slots 206 with a driven member 208 of a clutch. A collar 2I0 provided with pins2 I2 which are arranged to project into elongated slots 2I4 in the housing 88 forms the driving member of the clutch. A compression spring 2I6 supported between a flange 2I8 and a collar 220 urges the members of the clutch into engagement. Referring now to Fig. 8, the driven member 208 of the clutch is provided with but two teeth, on opposite sides, one of which 222 is visible in Fig. 8. These teeth engage the teeth 224 in the driving member 2I0 and as herein shown are yieldingly urged together by the compression spring 2I6 so that when the driving member is rotated in a clockwise direction the clutch members will rotate together until the cap has been screwed onto the container, whereupon the driven member comes to rest while the driving member is permitted to slip over the teeth 222 of the driven member. The clutch continues to slip until rotation of the housing in a clockwise direction ceases or until the pinion 94 leaves the gear segment 96 when the rotation is interrupted until the idler gear 98 engages the small gear segment I04 to cause the pinion'94 to rotate in a counter-clockwise direction. This rotation is transmitted to the driving member 2I0 of the clutch through the connections described and as herein shown, see Fig. 8,'the teeth of the clutch members are designed for positive engagement in a counter-clockwise direction so that no slipping of the clutch can occur. In this manner, each cap is successively unscrewed uniformly to the end that a definite amount of air space is maintained between the closure and the container preparatory to evacuating the container. During the operation of the machine when the top of a container comes in contact with a cap held in the jaws of a chuck, provision is made for permitting the gripping mechanism to move vertically in the chuck housing 88 so that this portion of the chuck will have a universal floating centralizing action to more readily apply the cap to the container, particularly where there is any irregularity either in the cap or in the container, which would otherwise tend to throw the center of the cap out of line with the center of the neck of the container. This is accomplished by providing a conical surface 226 on the spindle I18 normally supported by a corresponding conical surface 229 on a collar 230 secured to the bottom of the chuck housing 88.

In the illustrated machine the containers are carried into the machine on a conveyor 232 of any suitable construction, such as parallel chains running over sprockets, not shown, and as the containers are received by the machine, provision is made for delivering the containers to the clamping jaws I6, I1 as the latter are moved into a receiving position. As herein shown, see Fig. 4, the containers are delivered onto a rotating disc 234 and thence conveyed by a toothed rotary member 236 to a position to be delivered onto the revoluble table I8 and to be received by the clamping jaws I6, I1 which have previously been opened ready to receive a container. The jaws close about the container and as described the container is moved through successive stations where the closure is first screwed onto the container and then partially unscrewed whereupon the jaws I6, I1 are opened and the container is guided to a rotary disc 238 which conveys the containers to a discharge conveyor 240. The latter may comprise a belt or any other usual or preferred form of conveyor for continuously removing the containers from the machine. Provision is made for driving both rotary discs 234, 238 and the toothed member 236 from a gear 242 out upon the drum 40 and, as shown in Fig. 2, the gear 242 is arranged to mesh with a similar gear 244 secured to a vertical shaft 246 upon which the toothed member 236 is mounted. The gear 244 is arranged to mesh with a gear 248 upon a vertical shaft 250 upon which the rotary disc 234 is mounted. The rotary disc 238 mounted upon a vertical shaft 252 is arranged to be driven from the gear 244 through an idler ear 254 and a the cap. The chuck is then closed around the cap and raised to remove the cap from the transferring arm. As the machine continues in operation, with the cap and container in vertical alignment, the chuck 99 is rotated through the segment 96 and pinion 94, and, at a point designated B, the chuck is lowered to apply the cap to the container. When the caphas been screwed all the way down, the clutch members 209, 210, are arranged to slip until the pinion 90 leaves the segment 96 when the rotation of the chuck is interrupted until, at a point designated C, the idler 98 in mesh with the pinion 94, engages the segment I04 which reverses the rotation of the chuck and through positive engagement of the clutch members 208, M0, unscrews the cap apandB is designed to first raise the chuck slightly to permit removal of the transferring arm I and thereafter lower the chuck to apply the cap to the container. Rotation of the chuck is initiated at an intermediate point between A and B, see Fig. 4, so that the cap is being rotated when it comes in contact with the container at B. The chuck continues to follow the low portion of the cam 98 during the cap'applying and reversing operations, between B and C, whereupon the cam 68 raises the chuck to its high point to permit the container to be ejected and to permit the transferring arm with a new cap to be moved into alignment with the chuck. A slight drop in the cam path 98 permits the chuck to pick up the cap whereupon a new cycle is started.

Referring now to Figs. 11 and 12, as herein shown, a modified form of the present invention is illustrated. In this modification the central shaft 51 is arranged to rotate and the operating cams 1 I, I91, and segmental gears 91, 99, attached to the shaft 5| are arranged to rotate with it. The idler gear 99 is supported in a stationary bracket 30! attached to the machine frame, and likewise the single chuck casing BI is secured to the underside of the stationary bracket. Thus the chuck is raised and lowered, rotated and reversed in a manner similar to the embodiment illustrated in Figs. 1 to 10, except that the casing 6| is stationary and the shaft 5| is rotated. In operation the containers may be delivered to the machine on a suitable conveyor 300 and then brought to. rest on a platform 302 where a suitable clamping mechanism 309, 306, of any usual or preferred form may be employed to align the container with the chuck 61. The caps may be supplied to the chuck manually or through the mechanisms shown and described in the United States patent to R. N. Doble, No. 1,801,721, above referred to.

From the above description it will be observed that the present closure applying machine is capable of successful operation upon varying types andsizes of closures and containers, and that by means of the positive unscrewing of the closure from its completely applied position, uniform operation may be obtained with the varying sizes andstyles of closures.

While the illustrated embodiments of the invention have been described, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied in other forms within the scope of the following claims.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed is:'

1. In a closure applying machine, in combination, a rotatable closure applying device, container engaging means, means for relatively moving the container and said closure applying device toward and from each other, means for rotating the closure applying device to first screw a closure completely upon the container, and means for thereafter rotating the closure applying device in the reverse direction to partially unscrew the closure thus applied.

2. In a closure applying machine, in combination, a rotatable closure applying device, container engaging means, means for relatively moving the container and said closure applying device toward and from each other, means for rotating the closure applying device to first screw a closure completely upon the container, and means for rotating the closure applying device a predetermined amount and in the reverse direction to partially unscrew the closure thus applied.

3. In a closure applying machine, in combination, a rotatable closure applying device, container engaging means, means for relatively moving the closure applying device and container engaging means toward and from one another, means for relatively rotating the closure applying device and the container in one direction, and means for relatively rotating the closure applying device and the container in a reverse direction to partially unscrew a closure after the same has been completely screwed onto the container by rotation of the closure applying device in the first mentioned direction.

4. In a closure applying machine, in combination, a closure applying device having means for engaging a cap during the rotation thereof to screw the same'onto a threaded container, means for rotating the closure applying device in one direction to apply the closure to the container, and means for thereafter effecting the relative rotation of the container and closure thus applied to partially unscrew the closure.

5. In a closure applying machine, in combination, a revoluble closure applying device, means for effecting the rotation of the closure applying device about its own axis during its revoluble movement, whereby to screw a cap entirely on a threaded container, said means including a segment adapted to remain in operative connection to the closure applying device during a portion only of its revolution, means for thereafter reversing the rotation of the closure applying device during a portion of the remaining part of its revolution, and revoluble container holding means for operatively supporting the container during the closure applying operation.

6. In a closure applying machine, in combination, a closure applying device adapted to engage a cap to screw the same onto a threaded container, means for rotating the closure applying device including a clutch adapted to slip when the cap has been completely screwed onto the container, and means for thereafter positively rotating the cap and closure applying device in the reverse direction to partially unscrew the closurea predetermined amount.

7. In a closure applying machine, in combination, a rotatable closure applying device adapted to screw a closure onto the threaded container, meansfor rotating the closure applying device in one direction including a clutch adapted to slip when the closure has been completely applied to the container, a pinion connected to the closure applying device through said clutch, and means in one direction includinga clutch adapted to slip when the closure has been completely screwed onto the container, a pinion connected to the closure applying device through said clutch, and a rotary gear adapted to engage said pinion to eflect said rotation and to be thereafter disengaged from said pinion, and a second gear member adapted to engage the pinion after the first gear has become disengaged for eifecting rotation of the closure applying device in the reverse direction to partially unscrew the closure, said clutch being constructed .to slip in one direction only.

9. In a closure applying machine, in combination, a plurality of rotatable closure applying devices, means for rotating said devices in one direction including a pinion connected to each device, and a single gear adapted to cooperate with all of the pinions and to be disengaged therefrom after each closure has been completely screwed onto the container, and means for thereafter positively rotating each closure applying device in thereverse direction to partially unscrew the closure.

DOMINIC W. TIANO. 

